A loud clang brought Aria from a restless sleep. Her heart pounded in her chest as she laid with her face pressed against her pillow, waiting for something to happen. Had she imagined it? After a minute or two, she assumed so; her mind was unclear, playing dirty tricks on her.

How nasty, she thought with a shiver.

Rolling onto her side against Albert, Aria brought her arm around him, placing her hand against his bare chest as she tried to go back to sleep. How could he sleep so easily? Aria envied him. Sinking into his warmth, she shut her tired eyes, but another noise startled her.

Something skittered outside the window.

Aria leaned up on her elbow and listened, thinking that an animal was running around outside. What else could it have been? She leaned her cheek against Albert's arm, sighing. Maybe it was a raccoon. She had no reason to be scared, but deep inside, she feared what may be lurking around outside her house.

She tried to ignore it. However, sleep was not in the cards.

Aria shot a glare at her sleeping husband and eased out of bed, leaving the room. Passing through the parlor and into the kitchen, she poured some milk into a glass and drank it, staring at the stove; the clock read a little after three in the morning.

Ethan was at the hospital. On Saturday, he came in with the night shift.

She considered calling his line, but her phone was missing in action, perhaps lost on the couch since she usually tossed it aside when she wasn't using it; Albert argued with her all the time about the importance of her phone since he had no interest in a home phone.

Aria grunted in annoyance.

I guess I better look for it.

She washed her glass and set it in the sink, then returned to the parlor. She'd have to use Albert's phone to call hers if the battery wasn't dead; he usually kept it on the charger in his study.

Aria wandered over to the closed door to the left of the kitchen from the parlor and picked up her hand to knock, remembering that her husband was in bed. Her face heated up as she opened it, feeling ridiculous. Albert drilled it into her head so many times to knock before coming in that her body acted before her brain had time to comprehend the action.

She walked inside and turned on the light, retrieving the phone from the desk. As she began to dial her number, she noticed that Albert had a message. Who had he been texting? Her curiosity begged to be satisfied, but Aria exited from the screen and began to call her phone again.

It's none of my business, she told herself.

She returned to the parlor and listened. From the floor beside the couch, she heard the ringtone she set – a song that played at Jack's bar the night she bought a drink for Albert – and retrieved her phone. As she suspected, the battery was almost dead.

Aria sighed; perhaps another time she'd be able to ask Ethan about Martin Webster's record.

She went to return the phone to Albert's study, but a low growl stopped her cold. What was it? She heard something on the back patio across the parlor, scratching on the wood. Her heart pounded in her chest. Clutching her hand into a fist, Aria eased over to the patio door and pulled up the shades, peering out into the darkness.

A thick fog hung in the air, creeping across the backyard, but there was nothing there. So, what made the noise?

A sudden feeling of dread crept up on Aria. Was someone watching her? Maybe from the shadows? She released the shade and turned just as Albert walked upon her.

Aria cried out in fear and backed into the door. The two phones fell to the floor with a smack at her feet.

"What are you doing?"

She ignored his question.

"Don't sneak up on me," she rebuked.

Albert grunted and narrowed his eyes. What was she doing? Was she aware of how suspicious she looked, standing in the dark naked as she stared out the window?

"Why are you up?"

Aria huffed in annoyance. "I heard a noise outside; a clang, and a second ago, I heard something growling on the patio."

"It was most likely a raccoon," he stated calmly.

Perhaps it was.

"How sure are you?"

Albert stared at her a moment. He wasn't about to answer her question. Noticing his phone on the floor near her feet, he puckered a brow.

"And what were you doing with that?"

Aria leaned down to retrieve them, handing him the phone. Fortunately, neither of them was broken or scratched, though the back cover had popped off hers.

"I should have asked before using it, but I lost mine and used your phone to locate it," she explained.

How many times did he have to tell her to keep her phone in reach of her? Aria was often forgetful; it gave him a headache reminding her so many times. Albert pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, a gesture she noticed.

"I know," Aria grunted. "I'm sorry. From now on, it goes where I go."

He snorted. "I will remember we had this conversation."

She had no doubt. Aria walked forward and wrapped her arms around him, resting the side of her face against his chest.

Albert rubbed her head.

"Were you afraid?"

She grunted. "A little, and I hate it. This fear is stuck to me. It's growing, and I know it's irrational, but I have a bad feeling about these murders."

"There is nothing to be done, Aria," he lied.

Umbrella Pharmaceuticals was covering up the mess, but not well enough. Sooner or later, he knew someone would notice. Aria's questions were putting him under the spotlight, but Albert knew the best ways to take her mind off the suspicion floating around in her head. She was lucky to have married him, or else she'd be dead.

Albert never thought she'd be the one to catch on to the company's little cover-up at the hospital; Ethan sent the bodies to be cremated to hide evidence, though he failed to consider how well his employees did their jobs. His little Aria was a smart one.

He kissed the top of her head.

"You're safe here," he told her.

With me, he opted not to say.

Aria had her doubts. The fear was eating her alive.

"How sure are you?"

Albert curled up his nose.

"Don't question me," he grunted.

She had no reason to distrust him, but deep in her heart, she did.

"I need to sleep," Aria declared.

Her husband kissed her head again and released her.

"I'll take you out to eat later," he mentioned.

A gentle smile pulled at her lips. Aria thanked him and returned to the bedroom, leaving Albert to his own devices. He checked his phone, remembering that he had messaged Birkin before he laid down, asking about the condition of the situation in the mountains.

The reply made him grin.

Everything can be salvaged, it read.

Taking his phone back to the study, Albert glanced at a picture on his desk, the one of him and Aria on their wedding day. She was gorgeous in her white dress. Albert looked proud, standing next to her.

Perhaps she'd turn her back on Raccoon City and leave with him. Albert hoped so. Aria would be a rich woman, choosing him over humanity.